It seems that two features of the Google Play Store app, the "People" area and the "+1" option on app listings, are disappearing. At this time, I've personally checked five of my devices, and only one which hadn't been powered on in months still had them.

There is a chance this is a bug or some kind of unforeseen consequence of Google making another change to the Play Store, but it seems much more likely that the removal of these features is completely intentional. Google+ doesn't get much love these days, and Google has dramatically reduced the prominence of it in its various other products, rebranded the "Sign in with Google+" button as just Google, and started to pivot the platform as a whole into more of a meeting place for interest-driven communities rather than a "social network." In light of that, killing off the more social-network-y features of the platform in connected products is only logical.

The "People" area, if you weren't someone who used it, was introduced in early 2014, and allowed you to see apps and Play content "plussed" or shared by those in your Google+ circles. It was a neat idea - social sharing of good apps and other stuff, ostensibly from sources you'd be more likely to trust, like a sort of community-driven, personal curation system. But the feature wasn't terribly well-conceived, at least in my opinion, and never really evolved into anything but a difficult-to-navigate dumping ground of random stuff people you follow have sort of recommended.

The +1 button is pretty self-explanatory: you could "+1" apps. The button sat next to the share function, and showed you how many people had plussed a given listing. It really wasn't very useful (to everyone except Artem, since he used it to keep track of which apps he'd seen before).

As Google+ has fallen out of favor in the larger scheme of things at Google, continuing to integrate functionality for a social network that really never fully took off admittedly doesn't make much sense. The changes don't seem tied to any particular Play Store or Play Services update, though it's possible that the server side "switch" may be indirectly triggered when the Play Store app does get updated - we really aren't sure.

no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!

kaoruAngel

The list better still be accessible through some API. I had used that to maintain a list of my must-installs. I will be looking to that list every time I reinstall the OS or get a new device.

Zack Mills

Wish list?

yaman koudmani

↓↓↓Look down further in the comments ↓↓↓

kaoruAngel

No, I properly use my +1 list as a list of apps that I've "vetted" already and are known to be must-haves.

For the most part, I use my wishlist, instead, as, well, a "wish list": a bookmark list of apps that it seems I would probably really enjoy but I haven't gotten around to committing time to installing and trying out yet.

Also you can't wishlist an app that your downloaded at least one time already...

Faheem Ahmed

no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!

Faheem Ahmed

please sign petiuon against google to bring back
no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!

Faheem Ahmed

no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!

Francois Roy

I can still see both +1s and the People area on the 6P I use daily, btw..

trickinit

Yep, I can still see them on my 6P too.

Britton Berkan

of course, the removal rolls out over time.

It certainly seems to be going away, another remnant of Vic Gundotra's Google+ Vision that bites the dust.

I for one am excited to see what Google's plan for social is. They obviously can't just ditch all their social ambitions, but G+ really destroyed their reputation in that respect (with the forced nature of it that bothered many users). They'll just have to convince people with good products and easy access to those products

Bewear

The People page disappeared from my Moto MAXX, but it's still present on my Nexus 4, both running CM13 nightlies and latest OpenGApps.

Bewear

What do +1 mean in this context, though.

Malhaar Kale

It's just like to let your circles know that you liked that app.

Bewear

Thanks. Since I do not actively use G+, I didn't know.

philosopher_Mk

But why,it was great to see what apps people are installing.

Prophet Muhammad

People? Maybe bots.

People use Facebook, not G+.

someone755

Ratings and +1s of the people in my circles always showed up.

I don't know who you have in your circles but I know for a fact mine aren't bots lol.

Now if they could bring back the share button at the top, that'd be great.

Thomas

I was imagining Google being on Crack when they decided to hide it

Ryan Johnson

Good riddance, honestly. I can't stand the Google+ integration with these services

Faheem Ahmed

no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!

blindexecutioner

Honestly, I've never even noticed it. I guess I don't care that it's gone. I'm glad Google is backing off on the Google+ stuff though. Hopefully one day we don't have to have a Google+ page just to leave an app review for an app we've paid for.

Faheem Ahmed

no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!

Tiuri Elvander

Now let's get rid of the Google+ integration with play store reviews.

Yoshinatsu

Hell, let's get rid of Google+ altogether.
What purpose does it even serve anymore?

mx3

I like it. It's great for following developers.

Jason Pagliaro

Google+ was and is a service for universal login between all google products. The fact that they also initially combined it with their social media service is unfortunate.

Faheem Ahmed

no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!

TedPhillips

now how will i know what artem has seen before??? (happy the article also mentioned this.)

abc

If you're getting rid of things people dont use, why not just get rid of G+ ?

Abdulrhman

That weird feeling when Google remove a feature that you don't use....

Victor Stuber

I will miss the people section. It's literally the only place I an go to find apps that my friends like. I've discovered hundreds of amazing apps there that I simply never would have seen otherwise.

Faheem Ahmed

no way i loved it...it was my replacement for wish list :( so sad over google...please bring back.....my 1+ button!